Easy ideas for bringing people together

Fundraise with See's Candies –
Why We Love Them & You Will Too!(Sponsored Post)

We’re
thrilled to share See’s Candies Spring fundraising program with our VolunteerSpot community of active school parents and leaders. When it comes to school
fundraisers, there are two keys to a successful product sale -- finding
something your community wants to purchase and making it easy for them to do
so. With See’s Candies fundraisers, we’ve found that you get a great product
that everyone will enjoy along with a process that is incredibly easy.

See's Candies has a "sweet" history of helping schools and groups meet their fundraising goals by offering tasty, high quality products that families love! From staple chocolate truffles to gourmet lollipops and their most recent chocolate Easter eggs, See's Candies unique treats are not only made in the USA but have no added preservatives. With their comprehensive fundraising program, schools can decide how they want to fundraise with See's products and are given all the materials they need to publicize and organize.

While reviewing the See’s Candies fundraising program, we reached out to several VolunteerSpot members that we knew had some experience with the See’s program. We heard from Lori C. who has been leading her school community in annual See's Fundraisers for years!

The See's Candy fundraiser has
been a part of our FFA Boosters organization for many years. Every year
we raise funds to support our highly acclaimed judging teams, leadership
conferences, etc. Without this fundraiser, the costs for kids to participate in
these great opportunities would be prohibitive. We are located in a small
mountain area and our community appreciates the ability to buy high quality
products, like See's, locally, during the holiday season.

If you are searching for an exciting new product sale for your
school community, or simply have not tried a product sale fundraiser before,
See's Candies is the best place to start!

Posting Sign Up Links | VolunteerSpot Tip

When it comes to engaging a school parent body or an entire community of do-gooders, you want to cast a wide net to reach the largest pool of potential volunteers. One of the best ways to do this is with free online sign up sheets - online volunteer scheduling is not only convenient, but tailor-made for this technological day-in-age.

VolunteerSpot makes it easy to invite volunteers to help including posting volunteer sign ups publicly. As an organizer, it's as simple as clicking Create a Link to the left of your activity calendar - you are given both a shortened sign up url and an embed code, as well as text to copy when posting to social networks or via email.

When parents and volunteers can sign up from their computer or mobile device, they embrace the convenience (versus a last minute phone call), and are more apt to find time to contribute. Automated reminders make sure everyone keeps their commitment too!

Volunteer Spotlight | Angela Arroyo

Last year, the City of Birmingham opened a premier, state-of-the art indoor track facility, The CrossPlex at Birmingham. This facility allowed Alabama to once again offer a winter indoor track season, as a preparation for the outdoor track season. Because of the rarity of an indoor facility, the events also draw from neighboring states, and provide an exciting and competitive environment, yet place a high requirement for volunteer support.

We have over a hundred unique jobs, some duplicated up to four roles, for each of the four winter meets, requiring 1560 volunteer hours in one day. Adding to the uniqueness of our event is that there is a coalition of eight schools from our state to support and administrate the season. So our volunteer base is from eight schools-- parents that I would have never met, yet they can all access a common calendar.

How did you get involved in the program?

I got involved last year with our cross country and track program because I saw a need. Parents who wanted to help and be involved but weren't sure if they were in the way, what to do, when to show-up. My husband is a Children's Pastor and had used VolunteerSpot before for special events, so it was my first choice.

How did you implement VolunteerSpot?

After the cross country season, our Hoover High School coach noted the ease of clean-up when we had volunteers who knew what to do. He presented his ideas about the indoor season and we went to work! He had a great vision, and I am convinced that VolunteerSpot is one of the tools that translated that vision into a successful inaugural season.

He itemized the jobs, and times; I broke them into volunteer positions with detailed descriptions, loaded them into VolunteerSpot, and sent out the invitations to each of the eight school coaches, who in turn shared the link with their parents. The export feature was invaluable to us as I would export daily the information into Numbers to manipulate. We used the Premium Service and benefitted greatly from the additional fields of data that could be gathered.

Because the season is a coalition of schools, tracking hours to ensure balanced support was needed. We added a field for "School Representing" and Athlete's name. This made manipulating the data, adding a DURATION function to the spread sheet, and printing useable reports including a check-in/-out sheet, a very easy function! The officials at the meets commented on how nice it was to have adequate, purposed volunteers.

How has VolunteerSpot made your job as volunteer coordinator, easier?

Communicating specific details about each job would have been a full-time job without VolunteerSpot. Our volunteers came to the meets confident about the role they would play, and could look at past calendars to see who had worked the job previously, to ask for insight. They also knew the start and end time. Towards the end of the day, if a job was open-ended, we let the volunteer know that.

This year we have chosen to assign specific jobs to each of the eight schools, according to the interest. We then set-up a separate calendar for each school. This will place greater accountability on each school to provide volunteers, but will also allow a school to "specialize" in an specific aspect of the meet. Additionally, I think volunteers will appreciate fewer line items to review.

When all the jobs were together on one calendar, we would have 234 job/time combinations to choose from. This also lets volunteers work with their own parent base, hopefully providing a better strength of community. To do this, we used the Premium Service option of adding an additional administrator. Each school calendar is now primarily administered by their own administrator, and I have still have the ability to export summary reports and check status. In an emergency, I can assign volunteers from one school to fill open slots at another school. December 8th will be our first meet to function in this way, so it's too early to comment on the new set-up's success.

Do you have any advice for other volunteer leaders out there?

The best thing we can do for a volunteer is to give them as much concrete information as is possible. No one wants to walk into an ambiguous role; how will you know if you met expectations? I think volunteers feel respected, their time is respected and they feel productive and a part of the organization when they know that their time is being used wisely and in a beneficial way. I also believe when that level of preparation is made for volunteers, they will feel more committed to being present for their task, and doing it whole heartedly. We as organizers can greatly impact the perceptions of our volunteers, by how we prepare for their service.

Any final words to our readers?

If readers are in the southeast over the Christmas break, our school is hosting an Alumni Invitational, where our Alumni come back to be the volunteers for a meet. This meet is an OPEN indoor meet for all ages, elementary through age 18. You do not have to be part of a team, just sign-up UNATTACHED. It is a rare opportunity for elementary-aged, aspiring athletes, and is a great family environment. It also happens to fall at that time of the year when we've all had to much eating and sitting around, and wondering, "Isn't there something we can do?"

We salute Angela and all the other volunteer leaders out there making a difference. If you're using VolunteerSpot, write and tell us about what you're doing and give us a chance to shine our Volunteer Spotlight on you!! Just email us at VS@volunteerspot.com.

Fundraising Ideas for Schools & NonProfits

More people means more profits when it comes to running successful fundraisers! A key way to garner more support and participation in your fundraiser is with social media - your go-to tool for not only informing more potential donors (and participants), but for engaging them too.

3. Create a Social Media Strategy. Whether you have a whole team of communicators or a couple people, develop a plan of who will post what and when regarding your fundraiser, and on which channels. Incorporate social media all the way from a month before your event to calls to action on the day of your event.

4. Use New Applications. Pinterest, for example, is a great way to promote your fundraiser - delegate to your social media team or chair person who increase visiblity through targeted engagement on specific pinterest boards (and share those boards on facebook & twitter!).

5. Create Buzz. Get creative and get people talking about your school's product fundraiser. Use social media to create photo sharing opps for participants, to share incentives with donors or volunteers, and to post fun surveys and polls.

"Social Good" can seem like an all-encompassing feel-good term, but when it comes to fighting for the causes we care about, be they environmental, hunger-related, or addressing literacy, the view narrows and "social good" becomes a specific, palpable mission. Never in history has the network for social good been so vast and active - this is due in large part to technological advancements and yes, social media. Take a look at how integrating online applications and tools can power social good and apply them to your cause today!

4 Ways to Use Technology For Social Good:

Manage A Web-Based Campaign: Social Good campaigns are no longer limited to paper brochures in the mail or call centers asking for donations. Social media has exponentially grown the visibility of campaigns through platforms like twitter, facebook and youtube. Bringing active users together with a specific message that can virally permeate a social cycle is not only convenient, but virtually free; it also opens the door to creativity while still adhering to a mission. Examples include matching donations when someone tweets with a specific hashtag, engaging users on facebook with photos of your cause and integrated facebook apps, and promoting youtube videos throughout your social channels that capture a specific campaign message.

Coordinate Events & Volunteer Schedules Online: Organizing volunteers for your social good events has never been easier than with free online sign up sheets and volunteer scheduling. Comprehensive yet easy-to-use software makes it easier for people to get involved with your cause by giving them 24/7 access to sign ups from their computers or smartphones and automatically reminding them of their commitment. The Clipboard iPad app provides an alternative way of signing volunteers up on the spot - display sign up sheets on your iPad and capture volunteer commitments and information in minutes.

Network & Meet Up: Placing a call to your non-profits headquarters across the country to talk about regional campaigns and events literally changes face when you can virtually meet up in person with Google + Hangout, Skype or GoToMeeting for example. Technology makes it possible to get more accomplished with the leaders and volunteers of your cause by powering brainstorming sessions, document sharing (GoogleDocs, Evernote, DropBox), and networking opportunities.

Teach and Instruct on Your Cause: Amplify the voice of your cause by integrating education and awareness through online programs. Host a twitter party by finding interested panelists who can contribute valuable knowledge and know-how, and engage their large social communities in the conversation. Provide free webinars that give people around the world a chance to hear how they can be active in their communities to support your cause. Research popular twitter hashtags of your cause and get involved in the conversation when weekly chats occur.

What technology are you using to power social good? Leave a comment or tell us over on facebook!

Happy President's Day!

In honor of President's Day this year, we wanted to celebrate our nation's historic leadership with a humorous "what if" - what would a sign up sheet have looked like for an important signing day from history? While our To Brings may not be 100% historically accurate, we though Mrs. Hancock or Mary Lincoln would have fashioned something like the following:

Perhaps you are not organizing a signing of the Constitution, but if you are coordinating sign ups for just about anything, VolunteerSpot is your answer! From potlucks to parties, fundraisers to festivals, conferences to carnivals, free online sign up sheets with automated reminders are a must!

Volunteer Spotlight | Polly Rickard

Project Graduation is an all night alcohol-free and drug-free celebration immediately following the graduation ceremony. This event makes graduation night safe, fun, and memorable. The new graduates enjoy food, games, rides, entertainment and fabulous prizes!!!

This nation-wide program began in response to the high potential for harmful activities associated with high school graduation celebrations. Project Graduation 2013 keeps kids SAFE on the deadliest driving night of the year for high school seniors nationwide. Project Graduation is a priceless gift to our kids, their families, and our community.

Today, our Volunteer Spotlight shines on Polly Rickard, who uses VolunteerSpot's online signup sheets to coordinate over 600 parent volunteers who plan to help at this event.

Project Graduation at Westlake High School is big "party" for the graduates. It is a night designed for them to have fun and be safe. VolunteerSpot is a vital tool used to coordinate approximately 400 senior parent volunteers and 200 junior parent volunteers. A wide variety of jobs are available to choose from. Parents can check in seniors, help with entertainment, food or games, they man the many, many doors to make sure the kids are safe, they ride the buses from graduation to the party, offer first aid, provide prizes and a host of other opportunities.

Explain how you use VolunteerSpot to coordinate these volunteers.

I approach each chair and using their notes from last year they let me know how many volunteers they need for each area they oversee. I set up the spots on VolunteerSpot. Requests are sent out asking for help. The volunteers then sign up for the position they want. It is much more efficient and fewer mistakes are made.

What’s one piece of advice you have for volunteers or their leaders who are looking to plan a similar project?

This is a large project with many time slots and many volunteer positions. Be thorough in your approach and know that it is easy to go into the VolunteerSpot site to edit anything.

Why did you decide to use VolunteerSpot?

I had children at Eanes Elementary in Austin, TX. They used it to coordinate carnival, class parties, teacher birthday celebrations, library sign up, recess duty and lunch duty..

Anything else you’d like our readers to know about your experiences with VolunteerSpot, or volunteer coordination?

I enjoy managing information and organizing things. VolunteerSpot is an amazing tool. It limits errors that happen when too many emails are flying around and perhaps one is misread or a time transposed or other issues. It is easy to use for people who get lost or just don't feel like keeping up with all the information in the reply all emails. They just click on a link, sign up, receive a reminder regarding their choice. You can export the information and manipulate it for any use you can create: name tags, volunteer lists by time and alpha or by job.... I am certain I have forgotten something. It is really wonderful to use.

We salute Polly and all the other parent volunteer leaders out there making a difference in our world. If you're using VolunteerSpot, write and tell us about what you're doing and give us a chance to shine our Volunteer Spotlight on you!! Just email us at VS@volunteerspot.com.

The season of love is upon us and amidst the flowers, chocolate and hearts, we are reminded of the resounding and persistent notion that our community of volunteers, of people committed to bettering their world, is so filled with love for others. We are truly inspired and thank everyone for the love they spread daily.

~ Team VolunteerSpot

Non-Game Carnival Booths for Your Big Fundraiser

Springtime is carnival and festival time, and for many schools and nonprofits, those are the largest fundraisers of the year! In addition to the bean bag toss, baseball throw, cola ring toss and other novelty carnival games, consider having non-game carnival booths that add tons of fun and still help boost profits.

6 Non-Game Carnival Booths:

1. Sand Art Booth: Kids of all ages LOVE sand art. With small fun-shaped bottles and colorful sand, this carnival booth can boost your fundraiser profits and leave carnival goers with a fun keepsake. Tip: Have children funnel and fill their sand bottles over paper plates so extra sand can be put back into containers and not thrown away.

2. Face Painting Booth: It's not a carnival if kids aren't running around with cat faces and butterflies painted on their cheeks! Make sure your face painting booth is set up with a poster or two of designs available for kids to choose from, lots of rinse water, paper towls, and of course, washable paint and brushes. A simple and inexpensive alternative is temporary tattoos - you can buy these in bulk, they are super simple to apply and often take less time which means less kids wait in line!

3. Photo Booth: Consider renting a stand-up photo booth for your carnival; photo booths are super fun carnival activities for kids to take part in with their friends and their family! Or try a more inexpensive alternative by setting up your own; fashion a background with a colorful sheet or simply drapes hung up on a wall. Give "models" fun props like jumbo sunglasses, feather boas, and fake moustaches.

4. Art Exhibit:SchoolCarnivals.com has a great idea for featuring student art at your big fundraiser! Line the hallways or an exhibition room of your indoor carnival with the art (and include tags with student name and grade), or feature in their own tent at your outdoor carnival.

5. Guess How Many: Whether it's a jar full of jelly beans (great for Spring), candy corn (great for Fall) or even simply buttons, filling a large jar and having carnival goers guess how many pieces are in there makes for a fun carnival booth everyone can take part in. Have players right their answer on a piece of paper and announce the winner in a big way towards the end of your event!

6. Game Scores Booth: We love this idea from CarnivalSavers.com - set up a booth for all the "dads" to visit with current sports highlights and game scores from that day. This booth is great for March Madness (Spring), Baseball, and Football seasons (Fall). Get your hands on pennants for participating teams and have chalk or whiteboards updated with games and scores.

For many schools, product sales have been a staple, profitable fundraiser for decades. As school budgets get crushed, fundraisers become significantly more important and product fundraisers take a leap forward with new and interesting merchandise options.

The most successful product fundraisers showcase products your school parents want – either for themselves, their families, or to simplifying gift-giving for those they care about. Consider boosting fundraising profits by adding a product fundraiser to your school's next event.

6 creative ways to add product fundraisers to popular school events!

1. Carnivals - Pump up your school carnival by adding a booth to sell this year's product, or let attendees redeem winning tickets towards a product purchase. Consider offering seasonal specialties like gourmet lollipops and pumpkins at the Fall Carnival, poinsettias, bulbs, and toffee at the Winter Fair, and See’s Candies chocolate eggs at the Spring Carnival.

2. Auctions - Setup a small booth at your auction and take product orders then raffle off a special prize or gift basket to purchasers. Not only are you adding extra incentive towards your sale, but you are seamlessly integrating two fundraisers into one.

3. Fun Run/Walkathon - Profits from Fun Runs and like fundraisers come largely from registration fees and concessions. Amp up your active event with a product sale! Encourage spectators to purchase product as a prize for their runner or in appreciation for a favorite volunteer. Great fundraising products for active events include reusable water bottles, school spirit wear, and energy snack bars.

5. Science Fair – Many school science fairs start in late January – this is a perfect time to setup holiday-themed tables to sell your fundraising product to parents. Consider a Valentine’s booth complete with cupids and order forms for See’s Chocolate Hearts to be delivered by Valentine’s Day.

6. Community/Back to School Night - Include a "school store" where parents can purchase fundraising products for their kids. Think sprit wear, colorful shoelaces, braided necklaces, scented pencils and reusable lunch bags as appropriate school-related products that parents and kids will definitely want to purchase.

Volunteer Spotlight | Michelle, Volunteer Mom, Wake Forest, NC

Have you ever run across someone who says, "If you need me, let me know." Michelle is one of those people. So, today, our Volunteer Spotlight shines on Michelle from Wake Forest, NC. Michelle uses VolunteerSpot's online signup sheets to coordinate volunteers for the entire 8th grade at her child's school, the basketball team Booster Club, and the swim team! Read on to learn how she does it all!

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How did you get started using VolunteerSpot?

I started using VolunteerSpot as a Grade Level Coordinator for the 8th grade. I was talking to the Booster Club president about how well VolunteerSpot was working with the 8th grade...and now I'm in charge there as well. (Isn't that the way it often goes?) So I recently completed the front gate volunteer schedule for the 8 basketball teams, entered the details at VolunteerSpot.com, and sent the information to the coaches and team moms.

Can you give us more specifics about how you utilize the software?

I set up an account for the Booster Club president, so he can keep up with all dates. Then I created an activity for each team, with that team's gate volunteer assignments. Each team mom is now responsible for getting the slots filled. I also recommended that they add their own team needs as well, such as team meals. (We feed the players after school on game days.)

For the 8th grade, I create activities for each date that we have volunteer responsibilities. Then I send an email to everyone, with instructions and the link. I also tell them that I will enter the information for them if they have any trouble with it. We had posted paper sign-ups at Open House in August, so I entered those prior to sending the link and asked those parents to verify the assignments.

Do you have a favorite feature of VolunteerSpot?

I sent reminders for the events we have had thus far, as some time had gone by since they actually signed up, but I love the fact that VolunteerSpot sends a reminder two days prior to the event date. There can never be too many reminders for most of us... I also print a report, so I know the details during the event. Love that too!

What other volunteer activities are you involved with?

I work as a swim club manager and am in charge of scheduling the swim team volunteers. Because there are 20-30 volunteer slots to be filled for each swim meet, we require two meets per family. We give parents an opportunity to choose positions they prefer and to opt out of two of the six meet dates. Then I create the schedule. When the season starts, there is a need for reminders and swapping dates and filling in for those who forget. I am planning to use VolunteerSpot this coming season. It will require a bit more work up front, but it will simplify the process once the season is under way. It will allow parents to swap and document it themselves on the website. I will print the report on meet day, and I should have an accurate volunteer list.

How did you learn about VolunteerSpot?

This is the first year I've used VolunteerSpot, but I recommend it to everyone now. Another mom told me about it and I found it to be very user-friendly. I had no trouble getting my activities set up or managing them. It would be great if it could just guarantee that the volunteers would show up...ha!

Is there anything else you would lie to share about volunteering?

Some people understand what it takes and they work hard to find a replacement if they can't make it, while others just don't show up. In our case, I wish I could make our volunteers understand that the Booster Club is paying for those uniforms our children wear and for the referees (okay, we don't always like the refs, but we still have to pay them). The way we get those funds is to collect gate fees. No gate volunteer equals no income, but we still have the expenses.

All of the activities I am working with are about the kids; even at my job. We are volunteering our time and our snacks to give them the best possible experience. Sometimes it's some bagels to show our appreciation for the love and time the teachers give to our children. It is so worth it all! There is nothing like the look on the face of a 5 year old who just swam 15 yards and then got a rainbow ribbon (from a volunteer) that says, "Great Job!" on it.

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We salute Michelle and all the other volunteer leaders out there making a difference. If you're using VolunteerSpot, write and tell us about what you're doing and give us a chance to shine our Volunteer Spotlight on you!! Just email us at VS@volunteerspot.com.

What does your family calendar look like? I’m guessing it’s pretty full. I know mine fills up quickly. With three
kids and two adults, finding time for gymnastics or piano lessons or even
homework can be tricky.

Then there is that whole list of activities and projects we’d like to
get to someday. After the next big family gathering. After the next
winter ailment runs its course. After the basketball season winds down.

Too often volunteering, especially volunteering with your family, falls
into this someday category.

Today I urge you to take a moment, today, and add a volunteer project to your family’s
schedule. Visit our new Big-Hearted
Families resources,
where you’ll find 42 volunteer project
“recipes” suitable for kids of all ages. We strive to make it easy to find
a service opportunity that fits your family’s interests and your schedule.

The research is clear, doing good deeds as a family has many benefits beyond the immediate service
you provide. Volunteering with children

All of these someday ideas clatter around in my head,
jostling for attention between various activities and obligations and the next
camping trip.

I found that these three simplestrategies help me to turn my someday volunteer ideas into
accomplished tasks, even on the busy weeks.

Pick one thing & add it to the calendar: Too obvious? Maybe, but it worked. One sticky-note
reminder transformed a random Wednesday night into a family volunteer
night. Our whole family enjoyed
making the care kits,
and we’ve only got two left to hand out!

Add ingredients to the grocery list: No need to make a special trip to the store for
granola bars, lip balm, cozy socks and water bottles. We rounded it all up
during the last routine errand.

Leave enough time to reflect! Discuss
the good you're doing. Discuss how good that feels. And use this
conversation to motivate one another to pick the next project.

Pick the next project... and add it to your calendar. Whether you pick a day next week, next month, or
after hockey season, knowing you have set time aside time for the next
event will calm that irritating feeling of being hung up by too
many good ideas and not enough time.

How does your family
make time to volunteer?

Inertia is a powerful thing, how do you avoid
it?

Sarah Aadland is the voice of the Big-Hearted
Families blog, Twitterand Facebook feeds, and the Pinterest boards. Her own family of five provides ample inspiration and field-testing for the
ideas, stories, and links she shares. While they may be covered in glue, glitter, and grass
clippings most of the time, she keeps her grade-schooler, preschooler, and toddler steeped
in lessons of kindness and empathy amid the dizzying pace of family life.

Tracking & Measuring Volunteer Engagement

How does your organization retain volunteers? Does your school or nonprofit find it harder or easier to convince parents and volunteers to return for future opportunities? There are several ways to thank volunteers and encourage their returned commitment to your group, however, your appreciation carries greater weight when volunteers are made aware of the specific impact they made. This means measuring your organization's impact in your community and tracking the reach as a result of volunteer efforts.

Quantify your volunteer impact results with a variety of measures - results, processes, and community reach:

Online Volunteer Scheduling

Millions of Americans gather with friends and family to take part in one of our nation's historic pasttimes this weekend, watching the Super Bowl! And with March Madness and baseball season right around the corner, we wanted to share how free online volunteer management software makes organizing fun, and helps turn game days into ways to give back!

1. Potluck:Free online sign up sheets make it easy for friends and family to sign up for your game day potluck! They'll love signing up quickly from their computer or smartphone, interactive comments lets folks say what they're bringing, and automated reminders make sure everyone remembers their dish!

2. Food Drive: Turning your game into a way to give back is easy with a food drive! Request non-perishable food items to be contributed upon attendance of your game day party and donate them to a local food bank or shelter. *Call your local food bank and ask which items they are most in need of and request those on your sign up*

3. Game Day Snacks: Lots of game day groups organize their own athletic event before the big viewing event whether it's a football match or 5k. Quickly schedule and track who is bringing supplies, drinks and snacks with online volunteer scheduling!

4. Community Clean Up: Does you family plan a brief service project before the big game? Consider a quick community clean up in a local park or neighborhood. Schedule who is driving car pool, bringing snacks, and volunteering to clean!